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The New Republic Movie Series EPIV: A Threat From Beyond (An Ahsoka Series Edit) [RELEASED] — Page 6

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After the finale it’s very clear to me that cutting anything related to Anakin would be a mistake. Those scenes are the thematic through line of the entire show.

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Yeah, I’d definitely rather keep the flashbacks intact and have the movie be slightly longer, they’re a core part of Ahsoka’s arc.

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smudger9 said:

Act 2 is where a lot of fat needs to be trimmed and I’ll work on that this week after the premiere. I desperately want to keep the Clone Wars flashbacks but they may have to go 😦

That’s probably the only thing I truly liked about the show, Hayden’s return as Anakin. Unfortunately it doesn’t really do anything to push the story forward so it should be cut.

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So, after watching the finale, this is definitely a one movie series. There just isn’t enough meat for 2 films. The finale itself was a very action heavy 40mins, a lot of which can be heavily trimmed or cut like the TIE fighter attack.

The whole Peridea sequence could probably be shortened to an hour, which would fit nicely into a third act. That leaves an hour or so for the middle act on Seatos.

So for the through-line story I feel the focus of the movie, in order, should be.

  1. Thrawn’s return.
  2. Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship.
  3. Ahsoka’s rebirth.
  4. Baylan’s quest.

And as has become a theme with these edits, the New Republic scenes (and thus Hera), add little to the overall plot and will be largely cut.

I’ll hopefully have a first cut completed by the end of the week.

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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smudger9 said:

So, after watching the finale, this is definitely a one movie series. There just isn’t enough meat for 2 films. The finale itself was a very action heavy 40mins, a lot of which can be heavily trimmed or cut like the TIE fighter attack.

The whole Peridea sequence could probably be shortened to an hour, which would fit nicely into a third act. That leaves an hour or so for the middle act on Seatos.

So for the through-line story I feel the focus of the movie, in order, should be.

  1. Thrawn’s return.
  2. Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship.
  3. Ahsoka’s rebirth.
  4. Baylan’s quest.

And as has become a theme with these edits, the New Republic scenes (and thus Hera), add little to the overall plot and will be largely cut.

I’ll hopefully have a first cut completed by the end of the week.

I am looking forward to your cut Smudger. I’ll stick (for now) with 2-part Ahsoka movie, and after this finale I drew the names of both titles from Zahn’s EU books.

THE NEW REPUBLIC, Ep. V. - Dark Force Rising (formerly known as Shroud of Darkness)
THE NEW REPUBLIC, Ep. VI. - Specter of the Past (formerly known as Threat from Beyond)

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smudger9 said:

So, after watching the finale, this is definitely a one movie series. There just isn’t enough meat for 2 films. The finale itself was a very action heavy 40mins, a lot of which can be heavily trimmed or cut like the TIE fighter attack.

The whole Peridea sequence could probably be shortened to an hour, which would fit nicely into a third act. That leaves an hour or so for the middle act on Seatos.

So for the through-line story I feel the focus of the movie, in order, should be.

  1. Thrawn’s return.
  2. Ahsoka and Sabine’s relationship.
  3. Ahsoka’s rebirth.
  4. Baylan’s quest.

And as has become a theme with these edits, the New Republic scenes (and thus Hera), add little to the overall plot and will be largely cut.

I’ll hopefully have a first cut completed by the end of the week.

This all sounds spot on to me. The only thing I would caution against is cutting the Anakin/Clone Wars scenes as they are an important part of Ahsoka’s journey. However, it seems like you have are feeling more inclined to keep them at this point.

I must confess I didn’t really like the finale. It was mired by the usual, contrived nonsense that characterizes most Disney Star Wars these days. Ahsoka, the character, lacks the charisma she had in The Clone Wars, and Sabine is never held to account for her reckless actions (and I definitely feel like those Force powers were unearned). The series lacked any real tension throughout, and the stakes never felt very high (although I would count episode 4 as a noteworthy exception).

I think you have the right idea. There’s a lot of fat to be trimmed here. There are no filler episodes, strictly speaking, as every episode does something to further the plot, but within each episode there is still a fair amount that can be cut.

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I have two suggestions.

Suggestion #1 - Have a cold open before the opening credits, and have that scene be the one from the Mandalore when Ahsoka fights and captures Morgan. Even if it’s edited down, having that scene I think would be an awesome introduction to the series, action-packed, who Ahsoka is, who Morgan is, her power before… PLUS, it creates a fabulous full-circle moment in the end when Ahsoka and Morgan are fighting on the top of the fortress.

Suggestion #2 - The title you’ve chosen is quite generic and lacks punch. I’d workshop something else. It just doesn’t hit or sell really what this is about. This is a story about a journey of rebirth, discovery of self, and a dangerous return with a dash of hope (Hi, Ezra!). “A Threat From Beyond,” I just don’t feel captures that at all. JMO.

Anyhoo, looking forward to the finished result.

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 (Edited)

What about pulling from Zahn?

Star Wars, Ahoska: Survivor’s Quest

Here is a summary of the Legends novel Survivor’s Quest:

  • The Chiss have found the remains of the colonization and exploratory vessel Outbound Flight, which had been destroyed by Grand Admiral Thrawn many years previous. Now, the Chiss wish to hand over their find to the New Republic, and Luke and Mara join the odd group which will visit the site of the tragedy. As they voyage deeper into space, Luke and Mara grow more uneasy. Occurrences of sabotage and theft only serve to deepen their suspicions. On top of that, Mara begins to feel torn between her duty to the New Republic and her troubled respect for the Empire.

Here is a summary of the fanedit:

  • Morgan Elsbeth has found the remains of the Chimaera, which had gone missing with Grand Admiral Thrawn aboard many years previous. Now, Ahsoka Tano and her apprentice Sabine Wren wish to warn the New Republic of this threat. Ahsoka and Sabine race against Morgan and her odd group to the potential site of the ship. As they voyage deeper into space, Ahsoka and Sabine grow more uneasy. Occurrences of mercenaries and visions in the Force only serve to deepen their mission. On top of that, Sabine begins to feel torn between her duty to the New Republic and her quest to find her lost friend.

The Survivor could be referring to

  • Ahoska being an Order 66 survivor
  • Sabine surviving the purge of Mandalore
  • Ezra/Thrawn surviving and hoping to get home

The Skywalker Saga:
I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX
This is the way.

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arabian said:

I have two suggestions.

Suggestion #1 - Have a cold open before the opening credits, and have that scene be the one from the Mandalore when Ahsoka fights and captures Morgan. Even if it’s edited down, having that scene I think would be an awesome introduction to the series, action-packed, who Ahsoka is, who Morgan is, her power before… PLUS, it creates a fabulous full-circle moment in the end when Ahsoka and Morgan are fighting on the top of the fortress.

Suggestion #2 - The title you’ve chosen is quite generic and lacks punch. I’d workshop something else. It just doesn’t hit or sell really what this is about. This is a story about a journey of rebirth, discovery of self, and a dangerous return with a dash of hope (Hi, Ezra!). “A Threat From Beyond,” I just don’t feel captures that at all. JMO.

Anyhoo, looking forward to the finished result.

Great suggestions Arabian. Had I decided on doing 2 movies for Ahsoka, I definitely would have had the Ahsoka/Morgan duel from the Mandalorian as the opening scene and hard cut to Morgan as they approach Peridea. However, as a single movie it doesn’t really fit as the opening and I’m dead against a pre-crawl scene.

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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This evening I moved onto episode 3 and have managed to edit it down to 18mins. This puts the first 3 episodes at 68mins including the crawl. I haven’t been able to remove Ahsoka’s space walk because there are 2 key elements that occur when she is back in the cockpit with her space suit on… the flight through the Purgill and Huyang’s report on the hyperdrive ring. And actually the space walk sequence allows Sabone to redeem herself in the eyes of Ahsoka. I have massively cut down the rest of the space battle sequence so it is much faster paced.

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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I’m glad the spacewalk is still there. It may be a little nuts and over the top, but it was also not something we’ve seen before and kind of awesome.

Is there anything you can do to make the initial story more about finding Ezra and less about stopping the possible return of one Star Destroyer and admiral? I’d love it if the extent of the threat was kind of discovered rather than presupposed by everyone.

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Theeyskens said:

Can I please get the link to download this?

This is very much a work in progress!

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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Hey, Smudger. How’s the project going? Any new insights on how to move forward?

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 (Edited)

I’ve done a cut of the first 7 episodes which is clocking in at 2h40. I’m waiting for a non-DV 4K source for episode 8 so that I can complete the cut and I’m confident I can bring it in on 3 hours, which is my upper limit for a movie edit.
Whilst I’m waiting for an episode 8 source I’m going back through act 1 to complete the audio.

Act 1 is pretty much nailed down. It’s act 2 where I’m still a little uncertain, particularly concerning the Clone Wars flashbacks and the Hera/New Republic plot. My current version includes both the Clone Wars and Hera/New Republic elements with a lot of trimming.

I guess the options for the Clone Wars flashbacks are:

  1. The trimmed version I currently have.
  2. A series of flashes with no dialogue.
  3. Remove and use the WBW scenes only.

For the Hera/New Republic arc I can:

  1. Stick with my edited version which removes the defence council and tribunal scenes and trimming of the Ahsoka search.

  2. Cut it entirely and have Huyang rescue Ahsoka from the water. However, this option creates issues with the pacing of the primary plot due to lack of spacer scenes and a very disjointed Purgil departure results in a disjointed Purgill departure sequence.

If anyone wants to look over a rough cut of the second act let me know.

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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I’d love to check out the rough cut!

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 (Edited)

In my opinion, it’s better to keep as much as possible or the flashbacks and cut the whole Hera/NR subplot.

In the end, the NR subplot is just a filler, and it was one of the weakest points of the show. I guess most of fans didn’t enjoy it.

On the other hand, let’s be honest, people love the Anakin stuff, and those flashbacks were important I’m terms of the “Lesson” and Ahsoka’s character development. Also, if you take in consideration viewers/fans who never watched TCW, those flashbacks add a lot in terms of Ahsoka/Anakin story. I understand that for the sake of a coherent, well paced 3h movie you have to trim stuff, but I in my opinion you should keep this flashback stuff, as much as possible.

And again, Hera/NR stuff was really weak and in the end turned out to be a useless filler.

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I’d be happy to watch the rough cut of this 😉 I ll have to spend 2h in a train tomorrow anyway 😉

Preferred saga:
EI (DVD version) • EII (Blu-Ray) • CW (DVD) • TCW (smudger9’s fanedit) • ROTS (Octorox’s Extended version) •RO, Solo (originals) • Andor (smudger9’s episode I and EddieDean’s ep. 3-4) • OT (2004’s DVD) • Mando (s01: smudger9’s fanedit, s02: original) • TBOBF (smudger9’s) • TFA, TLJ (originals) • TROS - HAL’s edit

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szopman said:

In my opinion, it’s better to keep as much as possible or the flashbacks and cut the whole Hera/NR subplot.

In the end, the NR subplot is just a filler, and it was one of the weakest points of the show. I guess most of fans didn’t enjoy it.

On the other hand, let’s be honest, people love the Anakin stuff, and those flashbacks were important I’m terms of the “Lesson” and Ahsoka’s character development. Also, if you take in consideration viewers/fans who never watched TCW, those flashbacks add a lot in terms of Ahsoka/Anakin story. I understand that for the sake of a coherent, well paced 3h movie you have to trim stuff, but I in my opinion you should keep this flashback stuff, as much as possible.

And again, Hera/NR stuff was really weak and in the end turned out to be a useless filler.

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I’d be happy to watch the rough cut of this 😉 I ll have to spend 2h in a train tomorrow anyway 😉

Yeah the Clone Wars stuff was one of the best parts of the show. I think I’ll stick with my current edit of those. I’ve shortened the scenes as much as I can whilst maintaining the story.

The New Republic stuff is a really difficult one. I agree that it’s a relatively weak part of the show. However, without some elements of it there isn’t anything to plug a couple of time gaps in the Seatos story. That’s fine with a TV show, but with a movie it’s obvious that something is missing. And there is the issue with Ahsoka’s exit from Seatos. I’ll render the rough second act and send you a link.

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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WitchDR said:

I’d love to check out the rough cut!

Thanks. I’ll get it rendered and links out this evening.

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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Did you consider redistributing the flashbacks in more of a PTSD fashion throughout Acts 1 and 2 to further integrate/build Ashoka’s arc and explain her standoffishness?

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smudger9 said:

szopman said:

In my opinion, it’s better to keep as much as possible or the flashbacks and cut the whole Hera/NR subplot.

In the end, the NR subplot is just a filler, and it was one of the weakest points of the show. I guess most of fans didn’t enjoy it.

On the other hand, let’s be honest, people love the Anakin stuff, and those flashbacks were important I’m terms of the “Lesson” and Ahsoka’s character development. Also, if you take in consideration viewers/fans who never watched TCW, those flashbacks add a lot in terms of Ahsoka/Anakin story. I understand that for the sake of a coherent, well paced 3h movie you have to trim stuff, but I in my opinion you should keep this flashback stuff, as much as possible.

And again, Hera/NR stuff was really weak and in the end turned out to be a useless filler.

EDIT
I’d be happy to watch the rough cut of this 😉 I ll have to spend 2h in a train tomorrow anyway 😉

Yeah the Clone Wars stuff was one of the best parts of the show. I think I’ll stick with my current edit of those. I’ve shortened the scenes as much as I can whilst maintaining the story.

The New Republic stuff is a really difficult one. I agree that it’s a relatively weak part of the show. However, without some elements of it there isn’t anything to plug a couple of time gaps in the Seatos story. That’s fine with a TV show, but with a movie it’s obvious that something is missing. And there is the issue with Ahsoka’s exit from Seatos. I’ll render the rough second act and send you a link.

Maybe you could intercut some parts of 1x06 to fill those gaps?

And regarding the NR stuff, it’s not only that it was weak (although it is). The whole subplot was basically a filler that doesn’t add anything really to the story.
If you have to sacrifice some stuff, that’s the first thing you should cut (as long as it’s doable, of course) 😉

Preferred saga:
EI (DVD version) • EII (Blu-Ray) • CW (DVD) • TCW (smudger9’s fanedit) • ROTS (Octorox’s Extended version) •RO, Solo (originals) • Andor (smudger9’s episode I and EddieDean’s ep. 3-4) • OT (2004’s DVD) • Mando (s01: smudger9’s fanedit, s02: original) • TBOBF (smudger9’s) • TFA, TLJ (originals) • TROS - HAL’s edit

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So last night I was working on removing Hera and the New Republic from Seatos. Here is a proof of concept for the sequence from Ahsoka being pulled from the water to her departing in the space whale. There will need to be alteration of Huyang’s dialogue and removing the Ghost from a couple of shots. Thoughts?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xTHdvaVItybDqsEHn8_BUZT3ahRPGEqG

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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It seems I need access. But I think removing Hera and all New Republic scenes and keeping them all just a cameo at the beginning and end of the movie is the way to go.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

It seems I need access. But I think removing Hera and all New Republic scenes and keeping them all just a cameo at the beginning and end of the movie is the way to go.

You should be able to access now.

Current Project:- Star Wars: The Lost Planet (A Skeleton Crew Edit)

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I like it! Obviously needs the AI lines from Huyang that he was the one who found her. Maybe also consider shortening up her auditory flashback so that the camera doesn’t have to pan over Hera and the ghost.